American goalie John Gibson of the Kitchener Rangers vs. Team Canada coach Steve Spott, whose regular job is coaching Gibson and the Kitchener Rangers.

There’s no shortage of interesting subplots when Canada faces the U.S. in hockey and Sunday’s game (TSN, 4:30 a.m.) in the round-robin portion of the world junior hockey championship is no exception.

“I’m the president of the John Gibson fan club, but I won’t be tomorrow night,” said Spott, trying to handle the dicey situation of revealing the weaknesses of his own goalie.

“Like we have for all goaltenders, (goalie coach) Ron Tugnutt’s job is to have a plan in place,” Spott added. “We’ve addressed the areas in John’s game just like any goalie we play against. Our players will see that.”

Perhaps more intriguing for scouts is the matchup of draft-eligible players. Jones is the cornerstone of the American defence.

“You know people are going to be watching you, but there’s not really any pressure,” said Jones. “Just focusing on the team and winning a gold medal.”

MacKinnon — rated No. 1 by most scouts — is a role player on the Canadian team. His Halifax Mooseheads teammate, Drouin, has a larger role due to the fact he’s a natural winger on a team loaded with centres.

“He’s a good player, and everyone knows it,” Drouin said of Jones. “But it’s their team against our team.”

Canada will be down to just 11 forwards for its first big test of the world junior hockey championship against the Americans.

JC Lipon was suspended for the game for his hit on Slovakia’s Tomas Mikus Friday, while Boone Jenner completes his three-game suspension.

That means there’ll be some line juggling going on, but Spott isn’t worried.

“Players will have to be flexible throughout the game, playing different positions,” said Spott. “These are world-class players, so they’ll be fine.

“We’ll probably keep nine together as much as possible. We are going to have to work in two extra guys. It leaves you hanging a little, but it’s nothing these kids aren’t used to. These kids all play big minutes with their teams. . . . If anything, I think they’ll like their ice time.”

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